The founders of Wood & Pickett, Bill Wood and Les Pickett learnt the Coach building trade at Londons foremost Coach builder of the 40's & 50's Hooper & Co. When in 1947 they decided to leave & start their own business, it is reputed that in the early days the business was run from Bill Wood's front room.

Over the next few years Wood & Pickett's business began to grow & they eventually acquired premises in Abbey Road, Park Royal, deep in the heart of what was at that time London's coach building industry. The company saw what could be called "steady progress" Until in the 1960's they decided to specialise in highly luxurious Mini conversions. The company became "Wood & Pickett Ltd." & did excellent business building their own versions of these Super Luxury Minis, Made fashionable by the likes of Peter Sellers & Princess Margret. These early conversions were done by Hoopers or Harold Radford, but soon W&P were competing for this highly lucrative market.

Wood and Pickett developed the Mini Margrave, featuring a distinctive leather & walnut dash panel, leather or Dralon seating and nudge bars, to which customers could add an unbelievable selection of extras from a long list of options.

In 1965 Radford adopted a similar approach when they launched their Mini de Ville GT, but by then Wood & Pickett were the market leaders in one off Minis, The following year they managed to poach Radford's managing director, Len Minshull, and head of marketing, Eddie Collins, along with some of the company's most valued customers.

The late Sixties saw Radford in decline while Wood & Pickett were going from strength to strength, & on into the 1970's.

For a more detailed look at Wood & Pickett's history  CLICK HERE

Letter From Wood & Pickett (1968)

An interesting covering letter dated 1965 detailing the options available with the Mini Margrave. Thank you to Guy Vincent for sending me this excellent copy.

Original Mini Margrave Specification & Sales Sheet (1968)

Thank you to Guy Vincent for sending me this excellent copy.

Mini Mragrave Price List (1968)

Thank you to Guy Vincent for sending me this excellent copy.